Following on our earlier report that, in Colorado, they know how to convert Carbon Dioxide into Methane, we wanted to demonstrate that, in Colorado, they also know how to, once they've made Methane from CO2, further transform Methane into the liquid fuel, gasoline precursor and plastics manufacturing raw material, Methanol.
Moreover, this development was accomplished under contract to the USDOE, and the results were reported to the DOE office in Morgantown, WV.
We present only the briefest of excerpts from the attached file. The report is far too technically dense for us to competently edit and adequately explain, although the conclusions to be drawn should be quite clear.
Comments and questions follow:
"Direct Methane Conversion to Methanol; Annual Report October 1993 -September 1994
Richard D. Noble
John L. Falconer
John L. Falconer
January 1995
Work Performed Under Contract No.: DE-FG21-90MC271 15
For
U.S. Department of EnergyOffice of Fossil Energy
Morgantown Energy Technology Center; Morgantown, West Virginia
Morgantown Energy Technology Center; Morgantown, West Virginia
By
University of Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Available to DOE and DOE contractors from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, 175 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, TN 37831; prices available at (615) 576-8401.
Available to the public from the National Technical Information Service, U.S. Department of Commerce, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161; phone orders accepted at (703) 487-4650.
DIRECT CATALYTIC CONVERSION OF CH4 TO CH30H IN A NON-ISOTHERMAL MEMBRANE REACTOR TECHNICAL PROGRESS REPORT
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
We proposed to demonstrate the effectiveness of a catalytic membrane reactor (a ceramic membrane combined with a catalyst) to selectively produce methanol by partial oxidation of methane. Methanol is used as a chemical feedstock, gasoline additive, and turbine fuel. Methane partial oxidation using a catalytic membrane reactor has been determined as one of the promising approaches for methanol synthesis from methane. In the original proposal, the membrane was used to selectively remove methanol from the reaction zone before carbon oxides form, thus increasing the methanol yield. Methanol synthesis and separation in one step would also make methane more valuable for producing chemicals and fuels. However, all the membranes tested in this laboratory lost their selectivity under the reaction conditions. A modified non-isothermal, non-permselective membrane reactor then was built and satisfactory results were obtained. The conversion and selectivity data obtained in this laboratory were better than that of the most published studies.
One paper on CH4 oxidation and two papers on zeolite membranes have been prepared and submitted for publication."
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The gist of it is:
We know how to make methanol from methane, and we're getting better at it.
From many other reports we've documented, we also know that:
We can make methane from both Carbon Dioxide, via Sabatier-type technology; and from Coal, via gasification techniques.
Once we've made the methanol, from the methane, we can, via ExxonMobil "MTG"(r) technology, and others, convert it into gasoline; and, into a wide variety of plastics manufacturing raw materials.
Neither Carbon Dioxide nor Coal are named in the abstract of this report. But, we are convinced that those valuable raw materials are really what this is all about. We can, through technologies that are, as we have thoroughly documented, more than half a century old, convert both CO2 and Coal into Methane.
Once we have Methane, we can, through Penn State's "Tri-reforming" technology, use that Methane to convert even more CO2 into valuable hydrocarbons, including liquid fuels.
Or, as herein, we can directly convert the Methane into Methanol, and go from there.
Reports of this US tax dollar-funded work were, apparently, received in Morgantown, WV.